Company that won billions on the government’s ventilator procurement to be dissolved

Fourcardinal Consulting Kft. sold ventilators to the government for more than HUF 17 billion (~EUR 47,267,238). However, the company will now be dissolved since it has no legal successor.

The Fourcardinal Consulting Kft. was founded in 2014, and it played the largest role in the government’s procurement of ventilators in Hungary. The company signed a co-operation deal with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the procurement of ventilators during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, and it became nationally known by increasing its sales 216-fold in one year, writes Mfor.

After seeing the worrying examples in other countries,

the Hungarian government decided to set up a strategic reserve of ventilators and bought 16,000 machines for HUF 300 billion (~EUR 835,776,900)

during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic. Currently, 87 patients need respiratory assistance in Hungary. The quantity the government bought launched a debate since only a fraction of this stock, less than 1,600, was needed even during the most critical period of the pandemic. It was later revealed that one of the contracting parties was Fourcardinal Consulting Kft. and,

pursuant to a contract signed on 20 April 2020, the company sold a thousand ventilators to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade for more than HUF 17 billion (~EUR 47,267,238).

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According to Index, this agreement was later complemented by an asset acquisition project worth nearly HUF 33 billion (~EUR 91,996,709), under which the company sold medical devices, patient monitors, and infusion pumps to the state. Last year, Fourcardinal Consulting Kft.’s revenue from sales was 216 times higher than in the previous year: it increased from HUF 229 million (~EUR 638,401) to HUF 49.5 billion (~EUR 137,995,064) within one year.

We have also reported that Fourcardinal Consulting Kft. can be linked to members of the Hungarian government on several levels. For example, the first director of the company was Ildikó Szegi, one of the “established civil relations” of Zsuzsanna Rahói, senior advisor of the Prime Minister. For further details, read the full article HERE.

From 1 September, Fourcardinal Consulting Kft. is being wound up, and claims against the company can be filed until 7 November.

Source: index.hu, mfor.hu